Abstract

With social media at the forefront of today’s media context, citizens may perceive they don’t need to actively seek news because they will be exposed to news and remain well-informed through their peers and social networks. We label this the “news-finds-me perception,” and test its implications for news seeking and political knowledge: “news-finds-me effects.” U.S. panel-survey data show that individuals who perceive news will find them are less likely to use traditional news sources and are less knowledgeable about politics over time. Although the news-finds-me perception is positively associated with news exposure on social media, this behavior doesn’t facilitate political learning. These results suggest news continues to enhance political knowledge best when actively sought.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg briefly addresses on stage the killing of a man in Cleveland that was uploaded to the social network, saying ‘we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this.’ Steve Stephens posted a video of the killing of Robert Godwin Sr on Monday. The next day, Stephens killed himself while being pursued by police.

“This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook.”

The “content” the Facebook spokesperson was referring to was the apparent killing of 74-year-old grandfather Robert Godwin, shot at close range in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon as he walked home from an Easter meal with his family. Godwin’s suspected attacker, 37-year-old Steve Stephens, filmed a first-person view of the shooting and uploaded it to his Facebook page, where it remained for more than two hours before being taken down – not before the video had been copied, reposted and viewed millions of times.

Square, the payments company founded by Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, is entering the UK market offering merchants next-day settlement and slashed prices compared to rivals.

The company is taking on current market leader, Stockholm-headquartered iZettle. Both companies seek to provide a better service to small businesses than legacy card payment firms such as WorldPay and Barclaycard, whose bulky terminals and complex fee structures can lead to merchants choosing to only take cash payments.

Let’s be honest, that probably goes for a lot of adults too – and most of these lengthy legal documents that we never bother to read include some rather unexpected clauses. Here are some of the more wide-reaching and most bizarre.

Facebook obtains the permission to use any of your public posts, photographs or videos for anything, anywhere in the world, without paying you – and to sell them to others to do the same. You also agree to your name, your picture, and your content appearing in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content.